Only shareholders will benefit from Nexen deal says Mulcair

OTTAWA — As far as NDP leader Tom Mulcair is concerned, there’s just one clear net benefit to a Chinese state-owned company’s takeover of a Calgary-based petroleum producer – and that’s to the shareholders.

“The only clear net benefit is to Nexen shareholders in Mr. Harper’s oilpatch,” Mulcair told Global’s The West Block on Sunday.

“I think it has as much to do with that as anything else.”

On Friday, the Harper government declared that it had approved CNOOC’s $15.1-billion takeover of Nexen, while warning that state-owned enterprise takeovers of oilsands companies will only be permitted on “an exceptional basis only.”

In announcing its approval of the CNOOC-Nexen transaction, the Conservative government introduced a series of grittier rules for acquisitions of Canadian companies by state-owned enterprises.

Industry Minister Christian Paradis wouldn’t say whether CNOOC made any last minute improvements to its offer other than what it had already publicly committed to. He also wouldn’t say whether any environmental guarantees were given or asked for, telling CTV’s Question Period on Sunday that he’s “not allowed” to go public with the undertakings of the sale because of commercial sensitivity.

“What I can say to Canadians is that we made sure we would have the best deal that we could to provide a net benefit for Canada, but after that what I think was important was to go out and clarify the rules for the future,” Paradis said.

“This was the time to send a clear message to the markets to say now, that’s enough, this will be accepted in the future – the takeovers – only on an exceptional basis.”

Mulcair accused the Harper government of “making it up as they go along,” and questioned what exactly comprised an exceptional basis.

“Well what does that mean? When it’s Friday? Is that an exceptional circumstance?” Mulcair said on Global’s The West Block.